Gag. Barf. Die: First Days here...

Well…it’s officially my 3^rd day in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. So far I’ve done various things but I feel I am not fully enjoying myself. I think it’s because I don’t have my luggage and I kinda feel it’s keeping me back from having MORE fun! I love it here but ALL my things are in my suitcase that I NEED in order to feel a since of belonging. I’ve bought some stuff but it doesn’t feel mine. It sucks not having my stuff but I guess this is what you get when you travel…the chance of not getting your luggage! Hopefully, after the festival weekend here everything will be better AND my luggage arrives!

Anyways….instead of the lame stuff Ill focus on the things I’ve done. Yesterday was an exciting day. I went to an amazing breakfast at the hotel. It truly was like a 5 star meal. We stayed at this hotel called Hotel Tropical and it’s kinda a fancy hotel. Definitely expensive but thank goodness it’s covered in our fees. I had a room to myself because my roommate never showed up. She prolly encountered some delays but I guess I will never know who my roommate would have been. After breakfast, I brought my laptop down to the lobby so I could get on the internet. Then, we had our ACBEU Orientation with Clara and Professor Carlos Quicoli. SO far, Clara sounded amazing and I am excited to meet her personally. Gotta chat it up with her so I can do more things while I’m here. We got maps of Bahia but the most exciting thing was the paper with our names, our MOM’S name and our address. It was interesting to find out what streets we would be living at with our new families. There is a girl living literally the right across me but I already forgot her name but I hope to meet her so we can walk to school together. I am kinda still scared here so I only go out with money in my jeans and no purse. I’ve been terrified of taking my camera but I think ill let loose once I go to school and become more familiar with the area. SO at orientation, we got this postcard cut in half and we were supposed to leave the room and find our mothers in the lobby. So I step out and I see a whole bunch of moms and I was just thinking “omg…where is mine???” I couldn’t find her and I was scared because I wanted a home. I don’t know but it was a huge feeling of finding her and belonging somewhere. It’s hard to explain. I walked around asking “Você é minha mãe???” But no luck. When I found her she gave me a HUGE hug and totally embraced me. I felt to happy inside. It’s so cheesy but I love the feeling of being wanted especially since I am FAR FAR AWAY from home! After meeting her and talking to her for a lil while, we went to eat lunch in the hotel. A meal catered for us foreign students. Lunch was delicious…there were so many things to eat that I couldn’t believe my eyes. The deserts were breath taking. My favorite was this one that had Maracuya. I don’t know what that is in the states but it’s delish. A must try! I am not a chocolate lover but I’ll give it a try once in awhile. Although, I didn’t like the chocolate desserts and I think it was because I’m not a big fan. Oh well…we like some things more than others and I guess chocolate is not on my top favorite list! Of course I had GUARANA with my meal and it’s the Brazilian thing to do. I mean they weren’t serving alcohol so guarana was a real good choice! Then, it was time to go home. Mom went with me to my room and watched me pack like 3 things. Earlier in the morning (7:40am Brazil time) I went to the pharmacy to buy toothpaste, a tooth brush, and deodorant; just the essentials to survive and not smell. She saw this magazine and asked if I could take it. I was like I don’t know and she said ill take it and ill ask the front desk lady. She asked and she took it for me. I mean I didn’t want but she was like you will need it. I was like okayyyyy, whatever; I’m not going to argue. Most people were taking taxis with their Mães but my mom had a car. Came home and dropped my stuff in my room and took money because we were going to Shopping Barra so I could buy some clothes. It was a cool mall but a lil pricy. I mean in am not poor but I only exchanged so much money into Reais and I didn’t want to spend it all at one place because I still had 3 days to go before I could go to a bank. I spent like R$70. I was able to buy a shirt, underwear, shampoo, a PJ, soap, lotion, nail polish, etc. Survival things again! Walking at the mall, I was surprised to see what people wear. Please…like 80 year old women wear things here and massive wanna be cleavage is hanging out. Something you wouldn’t find in the US. So weird…

Mom is sooo cool. I am her 12^th American daughter. This is her job: hosting students. I guess it helps pay for the essentials here. I mean I think it must be a good money source but I love how she is SO understanding. I mean she has the experience. When I came home the 11^th daughter was here but she would be leaving at 1am to the airport. I did get to talk to her and she was here for 3 months. Her Portuguese wasn’t that good to me but I think she was over this whole thing and ready to go home. I liked her a lot and we did hang out and chatted. She also came to the mall with mom and I. My room is HUGE: 2 twin size beds, my own bathroom (shower, sink, and toilet), a reasonable closet, and a desk. There is another room where the computer is located and so is the TV.

Today, I got the house keys before I went out with friends. Mom is real chill about me going out as long as I tell her where I’m at and with whom. No restrictions but part of me will not abuse that trust. I mean I don’t want to be another “American” who comes and needs disciplinary action. Apparently, she has had some of those. Hopefully, I won’t be one of those.

Friends deserve a whole other paragraph. I already knew some people in the program so I was like yeah I wont have problem making friends and I don’t. I talk to everyone because that is just what I am good at. Although, I feel I found some really GOOD friends and it’s due to the fact that we met each other at the airport waiting for our flight to Salvador. (I had one for a class.) These two girls are graduate students and also 5-7 years older than me. SO I guess that makes them 25 and 27. I love hanging out with people older than me because I feel young lol but also because they are more mature. Just seeing some people in the hotel and how immature they were acting…I already placed them in the PARTY crew. I talk to this crew but I would feel queasy going out because they get drunk of their ass. I’m young and I know I will party but I feel like they expose themselves in a manner that is not favorable for the environment we are in. With my grad friends, we speak Portuguese because we are here to learn the language and culture. They party crew are beginners in leaning Portuguese therefore speak English in public. I don’t like that because I am not learning anything that way. Anyways, I haven’t met all the opople in our program yet but hopefully that happens Monday at school. Im excited for classes to start. OMG…im such a nerd! BUT that’s fine.

To be continued…

Enjoy these in the mean time!